Google has bought another 187 patents and 36 patent applications from IBM in efforts to remain ahead of rivals like Apple in the bitter legal wars engulfing the industry.

Google has bought another 187 patents and 36 patent applications from IBM in efforts to remain ahead of rivals like Apple in the bitter legal wars engulfing the industry.

The patents include several related to social networks, such as a system for using semantic networks and a method to identify common interests between users of a communication network. This is particularly interesting, as it means Google is preparing new things for its social network Google+, which launched last year and became a viable alternative to Facebook.

There are also patents related to web applications and mobile technology, areas that Google has had major success in with its Chrome web browser and Android operating system.

It is not yet clear how much Google paid for these, but we can likely expect it to be hundreds of millions of dollars. The move might also signal plans to buy further patent stashes from other companies, and perhaps more from IBM, throughout 2012.

Google previously bought over 1,000 patents from IBM last year and a huge portfolio of around 25,000 patents in an acquisition deal with Motorola Mobility worth $12.5 billion. The company is still awaiting final approval from regulators before that acquisition can go ahead.

Google's patent spending spree is largely seen as an effort to protect its interests, which have been threatened by a number of lawsuits taken by Apple against its partners, such as HTC and Samsung. Google is quickly putting itself in a position where it cannot be sued for technology it uses or can at least counter-sue or offer a trade with some of its valuable collection.